BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city will proceed with the ongoing negotiation process for the proposed P6-billion market development project to ensure the realization of the long overdue improvement of the city’s show window.
The market development is one of the 30 high-impact projects on full blast mainstream implementation this year.
Magalong said the city government and SM Prime Holdings, the company that was given by the city’s Public-Private Partnership for the People – Selection Committee (P4-SC) the Original Proponent Status (OPS) for the project, need to tackle the 18-point financial terms and 16-point technical terms for both parties to agree on the final terms of reference (TOR).
After the TOR is published, other interested proponents may participate in the Swiss Challenge.
He stated that city officials and concerned market stakeholders were able to already agree on the need to develop the city public market through the public-private partnership scheme as enshrined in the city’s P4 ordinance.
Earlier, the city was able to identify some 34 financial and technical terms ranging from the developable area, the project cost among others which is now the subject of the ongoing negotiations to ascertain the final terms of reference for the multi-billion project.
The city aims to partner with a qualified and competent developer that will translate to the development of the city public market to become one of the best markets in the country without the displacement of vendors as they will be accommodated in the stalls that will be operated by no less than the local government.
SM plans to build a seven-storey structure within the three-hectare area of the city market that will be able to accommodate the 4,000 vendors in the first two floors that will be operated by the city and other shopping areas that will be established within the structure aside from the existence of the two basement floors that will be earmarked for pay parking purposes.
Magalong said that the city will have more than enough spaces in the identified relocation sites for the more or less 4,000 vendors in the public market once the proposed development of the facility will be undertaken through a company that will be chosen by the city’s Public Private Partnership for the People – Screening Committee (P4-SC) to undertake the multi-billion development project.